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December Event: 7:00pm, Wednesday, 2nd December, 2009
Speakers
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Rachel Wingfield
MetaboliCity
Rachel belongs to an emerging generation of designers redefining conventions of how, why and with what things are made. For Rachel, the convergence of design and science, and ultimately the synergy with nature, can serve to address some of today's most urgent problems by promoting energy independence, food security, and "metabolic thinking". Her approach to design and fabrication values the physical process of making as much as established research methodologies and theories. This allows for the reinterpretation and integration of forms engineered by humans and nature alike. Rachel is Research Fellow at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, London and co-director of the design studio Loop.pH. Together with Mathias Gmachl, they specialize in lightweight temporary architecture, responsive environments and creates new urban visions. Their portfolio spans the design, construction and fabrication of architectural, structural and responsive textiles for both private and public environments from hospitals, museums to parks and private collections.
Rachel will speak about the recent initiative MetaboliCity - a vision of a city that metabolizes its resources and waste to supply its inhabitants with all the nourishment they need and more. This is a unique experimental and participatory design project that explores low cost solutions to integrate both traditional and hi-tech agricultural techniques into the fabric of the built environment, whilst being rooted in an ethical systems thinking.
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Michael McGrath
MicroLoan Foundation
Michael McGrath is the Head of Fundraising at the international development microfinance charity, the MicroLoan Foundation.
Michael is a certified fundraising manager through the Institute of Fundraising and has worked in the voluntary sector since 2001, both in the UK and on educational development projects in Africa. He is a history graduate from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and is currently studying for a Diploma in International Development and Business Innovation.
The MicroLoan Foundation is a UK-based microfinance charity providing small loans, business training, and continuing guidance to groups of women in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Dr Chris Williams
Civil Engineer
Chris Williams joined Ted Happold's group at Ove Arup in 1972. At Arup he worked on the Frei Otto gridshells in Mannheim with Ian Liddell and was responsible for the structural analysis and physical model testing. In 1976 he followed Ted to what is now the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Bath. His research interests include the form generation of tension and shell structures, the buckling of grid shell structures and the aero-elastic behaviour of lightweight roof and bridge structures.
His work in the generation of structural form through biological and other analogies has lead to collaboration on a number of projects including the British Museum Great Court Roof (Buro Happold and Foster and Partners), the Millennium Dome Central Show Nets (atelier one and Mark Fisher, STUFISH) the Japanese Pavilion Expo 2000 (Buro Happold and Shigeru Ban Architects), the Weald and Downland Gridshell (Buro Happold and Edward Cullinan Architects), the Savill Garden Gridshell (Buro Happold and Glenn Howells Architects) and the Gardens by the Bay Gridshells (atelier one, Grant Associates, Wilkinson Eyre Architects).
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Ben Keene
Founder Tribewanted
Described in National Geographic as "the Sergey Brin of the South Pacific", Ben Keene's quest in 2006 to create a new cross-cultural sustainable community on a Fijian island via an online social network captured international attention.
Three years on Tribewanted and its Fijian partners have built their community, welcomed 1000 tribe members - who have each played a part in its development - and invested over $2m fj into the local economy.
Born and bought up in England, Ben's mission to play a part in the mainstreaming of sustainable tourism began as he chatted to his Tanzanian guide during the decent of Mt.Kilimanjaro aged 18.
In 2006, an email and a South Pacific prophecy took him to Vorovoro Island in Fiji where the search for a new tribe began.
Ben's focus now is on turning one island community into an international network of cross-cultural tribes that closely share the local development, culture and impact with their online members and audiences: 'There's no reason why the best and most inspiring vacations should finish the day you go home. Tribes - people connected to one another, a leader, and an idea - can change the way we live, for the better.'
Plus more to come....
Previous Event: Wednesday, 4th November, 2009
Speakers
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Simon Cohen
Global Tolerance
Simon Cohen is a media ethics maverick. Founder and Managing Director of global tolerance , Simon has worked directly with HH Dalai Lama, HRH The Prince of Wales, Desmond Tutu, Gandhi's grandson, Karen Armstrong and even Wallace & Gromit!
Simon is an international speaker and trainer on communications and ethics, having spoken and run workshops at the World Economic Forum, Parliament of the World's Religions, Universal Forum of Cultures and several other international events. A staunch advocate for media ethics and a freelance journalist, Simon is a regular commentator in the international media, and has written for Newsweek/Washington Post, The Times, The Guardian, and the BBC.
Simon has been recognised numerous times by Mediaweek and PRWeek as one of the top young media and PR professionals in the UK. He has received multiple awards from UnLtd and the Millennium Awards Trust as a leading social entrepreneur. In 2009, Cohen was included in PRWeek's Powerbook of the most influential people in the PR industry. He is happiest on the dance floor or when he is playing with his five year old nephew Joshua. Oh, and he can be followed on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/globaltolerance
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Stefan Agamanolis
Distance Lab
Stefan Agamanolis heads Distance Lab, a creative research initiative bringing together technology, design and the arts to redefine and overcome distance. In addition to conducting academic research, Distance Lab works with briefs from industry and governmental partners, providing advice, generating ideas and building prototypes that inspire and can lead to new innovative products and services.
Stefan has over 10 years of experience inside the MIT Media Lab, first as a student and later as one of the founding research directors at Media Lab Europe, its former sister lab in Dublin, Ireland. There he led the Human Connectedness group, an interdisciplinary team that explored the future of human relationships as mediated by technology. His work and that of his researchers has won a number of awards and has been exhibited in diverse venues including Ars Electronica (Austria), the Osaka National Museum of Art (Japan), the Victoria and Albert Museum (UK), and the Wired NextFest (USA). He speaks and consults internationally on a variety of digital media topics. He holds Masters and PhD degrees in Media Arts and Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from Oberlin College. He was born and raised in the state of Ohio in the United States.
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E. Amato
Wordsmith
E. Amato is a wordsmith who brings her signature voice and assertive insight to audiences hungry for depth of soul and fiery wit.
"E. Amato breathes poetry. It is simply who she is, honest and spellbinding, soulful and outspoken. A real poet with a real pen, drafting truth about times past and future expectation. She is the human heart scribing her own story with substance and style."
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Simon Berry
Colalife
ColaLife is a campaign to get Coca-Cola to open up its distribution channels in developing countries to save lives, especially children's lives, by carrying much needed 'social products' such as oral rehydration salts and high-dose vitamin A tablets.